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Topic: Whirlpooling (Read 2760 times)

I tried whirlpooling on Friday night and it didn't work very well for me. I swirled the wort and then let is settle for 10 minutes before siphoning into the primary. I still had to filter it going into the primary as there was a lot of sludge all through the kettle. I really didn't see any cone at all. So what is your technique in getting a good cone in the middle of your kettle?

I tried whirlpooling on Friday night and it didn't work very well for me. I swirled the wort and then let is settle for 10 minutes before siphoning into the primary. I still had to filter it going into the primary as there was a lot of sludge all through the kettle. I really didn't see any cone at all. So what is your technique in getting a good cone in the middle of your kettle?

10 min probably isn't long enough settle time (especially if after being chilled) I do 15-20 min hot and 30 after chilled. Were you whirlpooling with a spoon or a pump?

I've been frustrated trying to effectively whirlpool my wort also. Use irish moss and spoon and chill before transfer. Best I've done is use a screen sleeve in the bottom of the brew pot to remove break, but it clogs stopping transfer so have to use my sanitized spoon to get it draining again. Usually just let the break go into the fermenter and forget about it. Is this having that significant an affect on my finished beer?

I have used whirlpooling quite effectively for over a decade. A fairly decent stirring to get the wort mixed and moving well and then a 15-minute stand. The trub cone is well formed. Another technique to help stabilize the cone is to use a portion of whole hops in the hop schedule. The whole hops sort of 'stack up' the cone the help it stay together as the wort is drained.

Another important thing about whirlpooling is to draw off the wort at the periphery of the kettle bottom. You need to create a manifold pick up tube that circles the periphery of the kettle bottom so that it avoids drawing a lot of the cone. By the way, if you are boiling in a tall kettle with a relatively small diameter (like a 15 gal keg), then you are more likely to have the cone spread all the way across the kettle bottom. Then you have no choice but to draw off wort higher off the kettle bottom.

I just got a new pump and Jamil's Whirlpool chiller and plan to test it out in a "dry" run this weekend using just water (no brew plans yet). Once I use it on a brew day, I'll let you know how it works.

10 min probably isn't long enough settle time (especially if after being chilled) I do 15-20 min hot and 30 after chilled. Were you whirlpooling with a spoon or a pump?

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Using my big spoon. I guess I'm not doing it right then if it takes 30 minutes. Wow![/quote You might also give your wort 5 min to settle down before stiring (let the rolling stop first)

This is important ^. Let the boil action stop before stirring. I use a big spoon or my mash paddle and get a good vortex going in my 15 gallon converted sanke boil keg. I get a pretty good cone formation.

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Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)Homebrewing since 1990AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member BJCP judge since 1995

I have gone from counter flow wort chilling to immersion wort chilling to see if I can realize any improvement in my brewing process. I have noticed that the whirlpool of the hot wort clears fast and creates a very predominate mound in the middle of the brew pot that allows me to siphon from the side and remove all but about a cup of wort from the brew pot. The whirlpool of the cold wort does not clear very well and does not leave much of a mound and is very hard to remove the wort because of all the hops and trub. Has anyone experienced this?

The kettle height to diameter is important. I use a turkey fryer kettle and I cannot get any kind of a cone to form.

Definitely! A large diameter and modest height is the way to keep the cone confined to the center and allow you to draw the wort from the periphery. The typical 15 gal keg is exactly what you don't want your kettle shape to be. Fortunately for the keg users, the dished center of the keg is a good repository for trub. Notice that all the kettles in large commercial breweries are relatively broad and not too deep. A large diameter stock pot that has much larger capacity than you actually brew, is a good idea. I use a 15 gal stock pot to brew 5 gal batches.